As a scholar-activist, it is an important skill to be aware of issues that negatively affect a specific group of people. The path for an equitable future is based on how the community can come together and help those in need of support. In this case, I want to shine light on the struggles of college transfer students and the many obstacles that they face.

I transferred schools one time in my whole life, back in elementary school. My family moved to Virginia for a year before returning to New York City. The adjustment to a new city and academic environment was the hardest for me to become acclimated to. Now imagine transferring to a different college institution where things become a lot more complex – college credits, degrees, hours. A friend of mine wanted to transfer between CUNYs, but was met with discouraging news from her advisor. If my friend transferred over to her new CUNY college, she would have to retake her college core classes, adding another semester to her college career. Why would transferring classes between CUNY institutions be hard to cross-reference? No student wants to stay at college longer than intended because that means more money will be spent. According to Gotham Gazette, “about 30% of CUNY students earn their degree within four years and 53% earn their degree after six years” which shows that college students are taking longer to graduate than within three years. Her advisor also mentioned a term called “on-campus hours,” a specific amount of hours required for a student to be on campus in order to graduate with a degree. Because they need to fulfill a specific number of hours at said institution, this policy can prolong a student’s graduation date.

These CUNY educational policies are inhibiting students from completing their college degrees in a shorter time because of obstacles that could be solved with implementing a new system of the college admission process. I believe that if there was a committee for transfer students to review transcripts and course syllabi for different institutions, we would be able to have more credits transferred over to another college institution. The committee would be reviewing course credits and decide if those credits will be applied to their institution or not. Implementing this method will allow college students to take classes that they need instead of retaking the same courses twice and would save time and money for the student. By implementing this committee, we can ensure that students are able to graduate in a shorter amount of time which will increase the retention rate amongst the students that graduate within three to four years.

Creating a transfer student committee would allow students who after working hard to meet the admission requirements to transfer to their dream college, a much easier process. Because transfer students are met with delayed graduation dates, more time and money are being spent, which can be discouraging and therefore, we need to offer them support. Share this blog with as many people so we can make transferring between colleges an easier process!

Mangbe Sylla is a senior at City College of New York, CUNY and a member of YI-New York’s Fall 2021 Young Advocates Program.